Archives for September 2009

For the second year in a row, the World Economic Forum has ranked Canada’s banking system ‘the soundest in the world,’ and given Canada top marks for the ease of starting a business. The Immigrant Investor Program, a category of Canadian Business Immigration, is an essential Canadian immigration option for business people who have accumulated a high net worth and wish to take advantage of Canada’s opportunities, such as a five-year ‘tax holiday’ for new Canadian permanent residents. There are two Immigrant Investor programs: the Federal Investor program, and the Quebec Investor program. While the requirements for both programs seem similar, the Quebec Investor program has slightly different conditions than the Federal Investor program, and, depending on the applicant’s country of residence, may provide a faster route to a Canadian immigrant (permanent resident) visa.

In the August, 2009 edition of our Newsletter, we highlighted two of the 38 qualifying occupations for the Federal Skilled Worker program: University Professors, and College and Other Vocational Instructors, and emphasized the importance of duties performed in each occupation, as opposed to job titles. This month, we look at Construction Managers, another qualifying occupation, and explore the possibility that Civil Engineers and Architects with supervisory roles might qualify for Canadian immigration under the Federal Skilled Worker program if their job descriptions and duties match those of Construction Managers.

Many Civil Engineers and Supervising Architects perform the duties of Construction Managers as in their jobs. Depending on their degree of involvement with the constructions projects they oversee, they may qualify for Canadian immigration under the Federal Skilled Worker category, though their job titles do not specifically designate them as construction managers.

According to the National Occupation Classification (NOC) description, Construction Managers plan, organize, direct, control and evaluate the activities of a construction company or a construction department within a company.

They are responsible for evaluating projects from the planning stages through to completion according to schedules and specifications. Construction Managers prepare budget estimates, as well as negotiate contracts with subcontractors for all stages of a given construction project. They are also in charge of purchasing building materials and coordinating quality control programs.

Civil Engineers who oversee construction projects in their entirety and perform a substantial number of the duties described above may qualify to immigrate to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker program if they have at least one year of work experience performing those duties within the last ten years.

Architects with supervisory roles may also be considered under this occupation as long as they perform the duties outlined in its NOC description. Many Architects do more than project-design; they also plan, budget, and oversee the completion of the projects they have designed. If they have done so for at least one year within the last ten year period, they should look into whether they qualify to immigrate to Canada as Construction Managers.

Earlier this month, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) announced a major change to its popular US H1B Visa Holders category. One occupation—Computer and Information Systems Managers—has been removed from the list of qualifying occupations. That’s the bad news. The good news is the Federal Skilled Worker program remains an attractive Canadian immigration option for Computer and Information Systems Managers currently working in the United States, as well as those working elsewhere in the world. This occupation is still in demand across Canada as a whole, and is still one of the 38 qualifying occupations under the Federal Skilled Worker category.

The AINP’s Strategic Recruitment Stream’s US Visa Holders Category is still an attractive option for both the temporary workers in the United States who qualify, as well as the province of Alberta. It provides Alberta’s labour market with skilled workers who have North American work experience, and provides the workers with an option to immigrate to a Canadian province where their work experience and skill set are in demand, making it easier for them to find employment after their arrival.

The list of qualifying occupations is frequently amended to reflect the needs of Alberta’s labour market, and now, Computer and Information Systems Managers is no longer a qualifying occupation.

As one of the qualifying criteria for the program is a minimum of 12 months of qualifying work on an H1B visa, many temporary workers in the US who have been on H1B visas since last October will soon qualify for the AINP US Visa Holders category. However, as we have very recently seen, the requirements for the program can change without notice at any time, and potential applicants are advised to submit their applications as soon as possible, while their occupations currently qualify for the program.

Despite the global economic recession, the Canadian economy has proven to be quite resilient. Throughout September, there have been many signs that not only showed that the economic situation in Canada is improving, but that its economy was less affected by the global downturn than most economies around the world. Canada remains an ideal place to do business with its stable banking system and the ease of starting a business in the country, and as the economy moves out of the recession, immigrants are the key to its success.

At the end of last month, the Bank of Canada declared that the recession in Canada was effectively over. Statistics Canada (StatsCan) had reported that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew in June, for the first time in 11 months.

StatsCan recently announced that in August, the private sector created more than 27,000 jobs, an unexpected growth in the job market. Canada’s major banks are reporting profits in the third quarter of 2009, another sign that the economy is recovering. In addition, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), the federal housing agency, said that the housing market is expected to rebound over the last few months of 2009.

Analysts are saying that all of the above are positive signs, showing not only that Canada is recovering from the economic downturn, but that its economy is also expected to grow.
“The upturn in June GDP, the swift snapback in housing amid rebounding consumer confidence, and a stabilizing U.S. economy all suggest that Canada’s recession is indeed ending,” said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, a leading financial services provider.

Newcomers to Canada have been driving the housing market. Over the last eight years, immigrants to Canada were responsible for more than half of housing sales in the Greater Toronto Area. A report released in July by Scotiabank, a major Canadian financial institution, found that newcomers are making a faster transition from renting homes to owning homes than they did in the past.

“Given Canada’s aging population and low fertility rates, longer term household formation and housing needs will be largely determined by immigration,” Adrienne Warren, the author of the report, said.

In addition, immigrants’ skills and experience are becoming increasingly valuable to the Canadian economy.

“Immigrants bring skills, including language and cultural abilities, knowledge and networks that can help us to reach out to emerging economic giants such as China and India, as well as emerging markets at home – particularly at a time when the U.S. economy remains weak and we need to be looking to expand our trade and cultural relationships even more,” said Gordon Nixon and Dominic D’Alessandro of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.

Some immigration consultants in Montreal are helping landed immigrants bypass the residency requirements for Canadian citizenship, by offering “life in Canada simulation” services, according to an investigation by the CBC, Canada’s national news network.